New York Aerial Photos

Images taken by a British photographer show the dazzling lights of the planet’s most famous skyline in spectacular detail – using state of the art technology

British photographer Jason Hawkes from Henley-on-Thames, Oxon., captured the series from a helicopter using a cutting edge gyroscopic mount

New York City boasts some of the planet’s most famous landmarks – and this spectacular series shows them in all their glorious nocturnal neon-lit detail

This image shows in stunning detail a northward view of Madison Avenue – alive and jam-packed with the glare of headlights – flanked by the Empire State Building to the west and the Chrysler Building at night

Included in the collection is the world-famous Time Square shot from 1,300 ft and showing hundreds of tiny night time revellers far below

Also seen is the Statue of Liberty with the glow of Manhattan island forming a backdrop. Shots like these have only recently become a possibility through advances in technology

The device is essentially a tripod with six sets of spinning gyros, contained inside three egg-shaped cases, that rotate extremely quickly and stabilises the camera for perfect night-time photography

Before it was invented it meant that nocturnal aerial shots like these were impossible and all photographers could get was a blurry picture. “It’s only really in the past couple of years that we have been able to get night-time shots from the air in this detail,” said Jason

“Before, the cameras just couldn’t cope with it. With little light you had to use camera settings with very high film speed which created ‘noise’. It made the images grainy and pretty ugly”

Using the new gear Jason was able to heavily reduce the film speed – producing luscious neon-lit images of the most famous city in the world. Over two weeks in March he spent 15 hours circling Manhattan and other city locations

Jason, who in the past he has shot famous day-time pictures of London and other major cities, added: “I spend a lot of time in New York and I always thought night time aerials would look amazing.The great thing about the city is the high number of skyscrapers. In London you only have around five buildings that you can actually call a ‘skyscraper’, but in New York there are over 200”

The series has been brought together in new book ‘New York At Night’, with words by Christopher Gray, and goes on sale next month